Walking a fine line

Joseph Boo

GARDEN GROVE - The holidays have given Corona del Mar High’s girls

basketball team reasons to become Scrooge. Instead, it’s acting like Tiny

Tim with the Christmas goose.

The Sea Kings won their fifth game in a row on Monday, a 49-46 squeaker

against Canyon in the Cavalier Classic at Santiago.

The win wasn’t pretty though. CdM (8-3) had to overcome turnovers and a

31 % shooting percentage.

“I anticipated this,” CdM Coach Elbert Davis of his team’s performance.

The Sea Kings played with only seven dressed players, three of them

missing because of holiday vacations. And because of Christmas, the team

didn’t practice for five days.

Yet the Sea Kings pulled it out against Canyon (4-7) with a mixture of

tough defense, clutch free throws, and the play of Kristin McCoy and

Charlene Quon.

McCoy led CdM with 22 points, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Quon got 15 points

and eight rebounds, and was outstanding on defense with four steals, all

in the second half.

But CdM was especially dependent on the free throws. Canyon’s swarming

defense knocked CdM out of its offense and straight to the line. The Sea

Kings shot 38 free throws, hitting 20 of them. In comparison, Canyon was

8 for 18 in free throw shooting.

“When you have a bad night, free throws keeps you in the game,” Davis

said. “And that’s what happened tonight.”

The game was close from the start. Canyon led at halftime, 21-20, as the

Comanches scored 10 points in the final three minutes. But CdM came back

and led by as many as eight in the fourth quarter.

Canyon did not fold though. When Trish Christian stole the ball and took

it the length of the court for a jumper, Canyon led, 46-45, with less

than a minute remaining.

But McCoy was fouled on a drive with :19 left, and she calmly hit both

free throws to give CdM a 47-46 lead. McCoy then blocked Canyon’s last

three-point attempt, and Quon grabbed the ball. She got fouled, and hit

her two free throws to lock up the win.

“Last year’s team wouldn’t have won these close games,” Davis said. “This

game shows how much we’ve grown.”

It also showed that CdM needs the rest of its team back, despite the

winning streak, to optimize its performance. While most people put on a

few pounds during the holidays, Davis gained a couple of years from his

team’s close finishes.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” he said. “This year’s team is putting white

hairs on my head.”

CAVALIER CLASSIC

Corona del Mar 49, Canyon 46

Score by Quarters

Corona del Mar 12 8 14 15 - 49

Canyon 9 12 13 12 - 46

Corona del Mar - K. McCoy 22, Quon 15, Eyre 6, Meservey 4, J. McCoy 2,

Gruber 0, Hawkins 0.

3-pt. goals - None.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Canyon - Christian 15, Thompson 9, Waltz 8, Serrano 2, Swank 0, Abifadel

2, Ito 0, Takehara 6, Canada 0, Harold 2.

3-pt. goals - Christian 2, Takehara 2.

Fouled out - Swank.

Technicals - None.